Monitoring long running workflows for robotic process automation

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for monitoring a robotic process automation (RPA) system are provided. Job execution data for one or more jobs in the RPA system is determined based on logs of the RPA system. The job execution data for the one or more jobs in the RPA system is caused to be displayed in substantially real time.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to robotic process automation,and more particularly to monitoring long running workflows for roboticprocess automation.

BACKGROUND

Robotic process automation (RPA) is a form of process automation thatuses software robots to automate workflows. RPA may be implemented toautomate repetitive and/or labor-intensive tasks, thereby reducing costsand increasing efficiency. At times, robots executing a workflow maybecome idle due to bottlenecks in the workflow. For example, robotsexecuting long running workflows often become idle while waiting for auser or another robot to complete other activities or workflows. It istherefore important to monitor the performance and efficiency of robots.However, it is difficult to identify the occurrence of, and the reasonfor, bottlenecks or other issues where a large number of robots havebeen deployed.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with one or more embodiments, systems and methods formonitoring a robotic process automation (RPA) system are provided. Jobexecution data for one or more jobs in the RPA system is determinedbased on logs of the RPA system. The job execution data for the one ormore jobs in the RPA system is caused to be displayed in substantiallyreal time.

In one embodiment, the job execution data is caused to be displayed withrespect to a visualization of a workflow associated with the one or morejobs. For example, a number of idle jobs for an activity of theworkflow, a number of jobs that have traversed one or more paths of theworkflow, a name of a robot assigned to perform an activity of theworkflow, a completion time of an activity of the workflow, or an idletime of an activity of the workflow may be caused to be displayed. Inanother embodiment, a color for each respective job is caused to bedisplayed, where the color for the respective job corresponds to a stateof the respective job.

These and other advantages of the invention will be apparent to those ofordinary skill in the art by reference to the following detaileddescription and the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an architectural diagram illustrating a robotic processautomation (RPA) system, according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an architectural diagram illustrating an example of a deployedrobotic process automation system, according to an embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 3 is an architectural diagram illustrating a simplified deploymentexample of a robotic process automation system, according to anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 shows a method for monitoring jobs in an RPA system, according toan embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 shows a user interface depicting a summary of job execution datafor jobs in an RPA system, according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 shows a user interface depicting job execution data for jobs inan RPA system, according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 shows a user interface depicting job execution data for currentjobs for a document processing workflow in an RPA system, according toan embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 8 shows a user interface depicting job execution data for all jobsfor a document processing workflow in an RPA system, according to anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 9 shows a user interface depicting a table of job execution dataall jobs for a document processing workflow in an RPA system, accordingto an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 10 shows a user interface depicting job execution data for a jobexecuting a document processing workflow in an RPA system, according toan embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a computing system according to anembodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Robotic process automation (RPA) is used for automating workflows. FIG.1 is an architectural diagram of an RPA system 100, in accordance withone or more embodiments. As shown in FIG. 1, RPA system 100 includes adesigner 102 to allow a developer to design automation processes usingworkflows. More specifically, designer 102 facilitates the developmentand deployment of workflows and robots for performing activities in theworkflows. Designer 102 may provide a solution for applicationintegration, as well as automating third-party applications,administrative Information Technology (IT) tasks, and business processesfor contact center operations. One commercial example of an embodimentof designer 102 is UiPath Studio™.

In designing the automation of rule-based processes, the developercontrols the execution order and the relationship between a custom setof steps developed in a workflow, defined herein as “activities.” Eachactivity may include an action, such as clicking a button, reading afile, writing to a log panel, etc. In some embodiments, workflows may benested or embedded.

Some types of workflows may include, but are not limited to, sequences,flowcharts, Finite State Machines (FSMs), and/or global exceptionhandlers. Sequences may be particularly suitable for linear processes,enabling flow from one activity to another without cluttering aworkflow. Flowcharts may be particularly suitable to more complexbusiness logic, enabling integration of decisions and connection ofactivities in a more diverse manner through multiple branching logicoperators. FSMs may be particularly suitable for large workflows. FSMsmay use a finite number of states in their execution, which aretriggered by a condition (i.e., transition) or an activity. Globalexception handlers may be particularly suitable for determining workflowbehavior when encountering an execution error and for debuggingprocesses.

Once a workflow is developed in designer 102, execution of businessprocesses is orchestrated by a conductor 104, which orchestrates one ormore robots 106 that execute the workflows developed in designer 102.One commercial example of an embodiment of conductor 104 is UiPathOrchestrator™. Conductor 220 facilitates management of the creation,monitoring, and deployment of resources in an RPA environment. In oneexample, conductor 104 is a web application. Conductor 104 may alsofunction as an integration point with third-party solutions andapplications.

Conductor 104 may manage a fleet of robots 106 by connecting andexecuting robots 106 from a centralized point. Conductor 104 may havevarious capabilities including, but not limited to, provisioning,deployment, configuration, queueing, monitoring, logging, and/orproviding interconnectivity. Provisioning may include creation andmaintenance of connections between robots 106 and conductor 104 (e.g., aweb application). Deployment may include assuring the correct deliveryof package versions to assigned robots 106 for execution. Configurationmay include maintenance and delivery of robot environments and processconfigurations. Queueing may include providing management of queues andqueue items. Monitoring may include keeping track of robotidentification data and maintaining user permissions. Logging mayinclude storing and indexing logs to a database (e.g., an SQL database)and/or another storage mechanism (e.g., ElasticSearch®, which providesthe ability to store and quickly query large datasets). Conductor 104may provide interconnectivity by acting as the centralized point ofcommunication for third-party solutions and/or applications.

Robots 106 are execution agents that run workflows built in designer102. One commercial example of some embodiments of robots 106 is UiPathRobots™. Types of robots 106 may include, but are not limited to,attended robots 108 and unattended robots 110. Attended robots 108 aretriggered by a user or user events and operate alongside a human user onthe same computing system. Attended robots 108 may help the human useraccomplish various tasks, and may be triggered directly by the humanuser and/or by user events. In the case of attended robots, conductor104 may provide centralized process deployment and a logging medium. Incertain embodiments, attended robots 108 can only be started from a“robot tray” or from a command prompt in a web application. Unattendedrobots 110 operate in an unattended mode in virtual environments and canbe used for automating many processes, e.g., for high-volume, back-endprocesses and so on. Unattended robots 110 may be responsible for remoteexecution, monitoring, scheduling, and providing support for workqueues. Both attended and unattended robots may automate various systemsand applications including, but not limited to, mainframes, webapplications, VMs, enterprise applications (e.g., those produced bySAP®, SalesForce®, Oracle®, etc.), and computing system applications(e.g., desktop and laptop applications, mobile device applications,wearable computer applications, etc.).

In some embodiments, robots 106 install the Microsoft Windows® ServiceControl Manager (SCM)-managed service by default. As a result, suchrobots 106 can open interactive Windows® sessions under the local systemaccount, and have the rights of a Windows® service. In some embodiments,robots 106 can be installed in a user mode with the same rights as theuser under which a given robot 106 has been installed.

Robots 106 in some embodiments are split into several components, eachbeing dedicated to a particular task. Robot components in someembodiments include, but are not limited to, SCM-managed robot services,user mode robot services, executors, agents, and command line.SCM-managed robot services manage and monitor Windows® sessions and actas a proxy between conductor 104 and the execution hosts (i.e., thecomputing systems on which robots 106 are executed). These services aretrusted with and manage the credentials for robots 106. A consoleapplication is launched by the SCM under the local system. User moderobot services in some embodiments manage and monitor Windows® sessionsand act as a proxy between conductor 104 and the execution hosts. Usermode robot services may be trusted with and manage the credentials forrobots 106. A Windows® application may automatically be launched if theSCM-managed robot service is not installed. Executors may run given jobsunder a Windows® session (e.g., they may execute workflows) and they maybe aware of per-monitor dots per inch (DPI) settings. Agents may beWindows® Presentation Foundation (WPF) applications that display theavailable jobs in the system tray window. Agents may be a client of theservice. Agents may request to start or stop jobs and change settings.Command line is a client of the service and is a console applicationthat can request to start jobs and waits for their output. Splittingrobot components can help developers, support users, and enablecomputing systems to more easily run, identify, and track what eachrobot component is executing. For example, special behaviors may beconfigured per robot component, such as setting up different firewallrules for the executor and the service. As a further example, anexecutor may be aware of DPI settings per monitor in some embodimentsand, as a result, workflows may be executed at any DPI regardless of theconfiguration of the computing system on which they were created.

FIG. 2 shows an RPA system 200, in accordance with one or moreembodiments. RPA system 200 may be, or may be part of, RPA system 100 ofFIG. 1. It should be noted that the “client side”, the “server side”, orboth, may include any desired number of computing systems withoutdeviating from the scope of the invention.

As shown on the client side in this embodiment, computing system 202includes one or more executors 204, agent 206, and designer 208. Inother embodiments, designer 208 may not be running on the same computingsystem 202. An executor 204 (which may be a robot component as describedabove) runs a process and, in some embodiments, multiple businessprocesses may run simultaneously. In this example, agent 206 (e.g., aWindows® service) is the single point of contact for managing executors204.

In some embodiments, a robot represents an association between a machinename and a username. A robot may manage multiple executors at the sametime. On computing systems that support multiple interactive sessionsrunning simultaneously (e.g., Windows® Server 2012), multiple robots maybe running at the same time (e.g., a high density (HD) environment),each in a separate Windows® session using a unique username.

Agent 206 is also responsible for sending the status of the robot (e.g.,periodically sending a “heartbeat” message indicating that the robot isstill functioning) and downloading the required version of the packageto be executed. The communication between agent 206 and conductor 212 isinitiated by agent 206 in some embodiments. In the example of anotification scenario, agent 206 may open a WebSocket channel that islater used by conductor 212 to send commands to the robot (e.g., start,stop, etc.).

As shown on the server side in this embodiment, a presentation layercomprises web application 214, Open Data Protocol (OData) RepresentativeState Transfer (REST) Application Programming Interface (API) endpoints216 and notification and monitoring API 218. A service layer on theserver side includes API implementation/business logic 220. Apersistence layer on the server side includes database server 222 andindexer server 224. Conductor 212 includes web application 214, ODataREST API endpoints 216, notification and monitoring API 218, and APIimplementation/business logic 220.

In various embodiments, most actions that a user performs in theinterface of conductor 212 (e.g., via browser 210) are performed bycalling various APIs. Such actions may include, but are not limited to,starting jobs on robots, adding/removing data in queues, scheduling jobsto run unattended, and so on. Web application 214 is the visual layer ofthe server platform. In this embodiment, web application 214 usesHypertext Markup Language (HTML) and JavaScript (JS). However, anydesired markup languages, script languages, or any other formats may beused without deviating from the scope of the invention. The userinteracts with web pages from web application 214 via browser 210 inthis embodiment in order to perform various actions to control conductor212. For instance, the user may create robot groups, assign packages tothe robots, analyze logs per robot and/or per process, start and stoprobots, etc.

In addition to web application 214, conductor 212 also includes aservice layer that exposes OData REST API endpoints 216 (or otherendpoints may be implemented without deviating from the scope of theinvention). The REST API is consumed by both web application 214 andagent 206. Agent 206 is the supervisor of one or more robots on theclient computer in this exemplary configuration.

The REST API in this embodiment covers configuration, logging,monitoring, and queueing functionality. The configuration REST endpointsmay be used to define and configure application users, permissions,robots, assets, releases, and environments in some embodiments. LoggingREST endpoints may be useful for logging different information, such aserrors, explicit messages sent by the robots, and otherenvironment-specific information, for example. Deployment REST endpointsmay be used by the robots to query the package version that should beexecuted if the start job command is used in conductor 212. QueueingREST endpoints may be responsible for queues and queue item management,such as adding data to a queue, obtaining a transaction from the queue,setting the status of a transaction, etc. Monitoring REST endpointsmonitor web application 214 and agent 206. Notification and monitoringAPI 218 may be REST endpoints that are used for registering agent 206,delivering configuration settings to agent 206, and forsending/receiving notifications from the server and agent 206.Notification and monitoring API 218 may also use WebSocket communicationin some embodiments.

The persistence layer on the server side includes a pair of servers inthis illustrative embodiment—database server 222 (e.g., a SQL server)and indexer server 224. Database server 222 in this embodiment storesthe configurations of the robots, robot groups, associated processes,users, roles, schedules, etc. This information is managed through webapplication 214 in some embodiments. Database server 222 may also managequeues and queue items. In some embodiments, database server 222 maystore messages logged by the robots (in addition to or in lieu ofindexer server 224). Indexer server 224, which is optional in someembodiments, stores and indexes the information logged by the robots. Incertain embodiments, indexer server 224 may be disabled throughconfiguration settings. In some embodiments, indexer server 224 usesElasticSearch®, which is an open source project full-text search engine.Messages logged by robots (e.g., using activities like log message orwrite line) may be sent through the logging REST endpoint(s) to indexerserver 224, where they are indexed for future utilization.

FIG. 3 is an architectural diagram illustrating a simplified deploymentexample of RPA system 300, in accordance with one or more embodiments.In some embodiments, RPA system 300 may be, or may include RPA systems100 and/or 200 of FIGS. 1 and 2, respective. RPA system 300 includesmultiple client computing systems 302 running robots. Computing systems302 are able to communicate with a conductor computing system 304 via aweb application running thereon. Conductor computing system 304, inturn, communicates with database server 306 and an optional indexerserver 308. With respect to FIGS. 2 and 3, it should be noted that whilea web application is used in these embodiments, any suitableclient/server software may be used without deviating from the scope ofthe invention. For instance, the conductor may run a server-sideapplication that communicates with non-web-based client softwareapplications on the client computing systems.

In one embodiment, conductor 304 facilitates the monitoring of jobs inRPA system 300. As used herein, a job in RPA system 300 represents arequest (e.g., from a user) to perform one or more workflows (alsoreferred to as processes). Each workflow includes one or moreactivities. In one embodiment, the workflows may include a long runningworkflow. A long running workflow is a workflow that includes one ormore activities that depend on an occurrence of an external event inorder to complete the activity. An external event of a particular longrunning workflow is any event that does not result from execution of theparticular long running workflow. Exemplary activities that depend on anoccurrence of an external event include a robot activity that depends onthe completion of another workflow by a robot or user activity thatdepends on input from a user. Long running workflows are performed overa relatively long period of time (e.g., hours or days) and may besuspended and resumed at any point in time, thereby providing longrunning behavior to the workflow.

Conductor 304 provides for a user interface for monitoring jobs in RPAsystem 300 in substantially real time. In one embodiment, conductor 304enables workflow centric monitoring by providing, e.g., a summary ofcurrently executing long running workflows, a cumulative status ofrelated jobs, a path taken by completed and in progress jobs, andresource bottlenecks, average times, and other metrics of a job. Byproviding such monitoring of jobs, embodiments of the invention allow anend user to identify faulted jobs for further action and to manage andoversee the performance of a workflow through various metrics (e.g.,average processing time) to achieve a target objective.

FIG. 4 shows a method 400 for monitoring jobs in an RPA system, inaccordance with one or more embodiments. Method 400 may be performed byany suitable computing device (e.g., computing system 1100 of FIG. 11).In one embodiment, method 400 is performed by an orchestrator, such as,e.g., conductor 104 of FIG. 1, conductor 212 of FIG. 2, or conductor 304of FIG. 3.

At step 402, job execution data of one or more jobs in the RPA system isdetermined based on logs of the RPA system. In one embodiment, the jobexecution data is additionally or alternatively determined based onmetadata of jobs, such as, e.g., the current status of jobs, triggersthat jobs having a suspended status are waiting for, or any othersuitable metadata of jobs. As used herein, job execution data of a jobrefers to any data relating to the execution of the job. Variousexamples of job execution data of jobs are shown in FIGS. 5-10, whichare described in further detail below. The job execution data of thejobs may be determined in substantially real time.

In one embodiment, the job execution data of the jobs may be a state (orstatus) of the jobs. For example, the state of the jobs may be one ofrunning, pending, idle, successful, stopped, or faulted. The state of ajob is idle if one or more persistent activities of a workflow of thejob is pending or running. The idle state of the job can change to arunning, faulted, or successful state. The state of the job may bedetermined based on the metadata of the jobs (e.g., a timestamp sincethe workflow was in a suspended state). The job execution data of thejobs may be a number of jobs that are in one or more state (e.g., thenumber of jobs that are in a running state, a pending state, and an idlestate). The number of jobs in each state may be identified for eachworkflow in the RPA system. In another embodiment, the job executiondata may be displayed with respect to a visualization of a workflowassociated with the jobs. For example, the job execution data of thejobs may be the number of jobs that traverse each path in the workflowor the number of jobs at a particular state (e.g., idle) at eachactivity of the workflow. In another embodiment, the job execution dataof the jobs may be a metric for the jobs, such as, e.g., average jobduration or average pending time.

The job execution data of the jobs may be determined from logsmaintained for any component of the RPA system, such as, e.g., logs forrobots, an orchestrator, or task management. In one embodiment, the logsmay be logs that are already maintained by the RPA system for purposesother than monitoring, and are not logs generated for the sole purposeof monitoring.

At step 404, the job execution data of the one or more jobs in the RPAsystem is caused to be displayed. In one embodiment, the job executiondata of the one or more jobs may be caused to be displayed to an enduser in substantially real time via a browser user interface. Forexample, the end user may use a web browser executing on a computingdevice (e.g., computing system 1100 of FIG. 11) to access theorchestrator via a browser user interface to view and interact with auser interface displaying the job execution data of the one or morejobs, without having to directly access the designer (e.g., designer 102of FIG. 1 or designer 208 of FIG. 2) of the RPA system. In oneembodiment, the user interfaces shown in FIGS. 5-10 (described infurther detail below) are caused to be displayed.

In one embodiment, the browser user interface may be generated from anXAML file output from the designer (e.g., designer 102 of FIG. 1 ordesigner 208 of FIG. 2) using a typescript based application (compiledto Javascript library). The application uses a template generationmodel, which is converted to a workflow visualization of activities andconnectors (e.g., using Dagree-D3). Each activity block in a workflowhas a unique identifier and, through the template, can identify allactivities (including long running activities), and overlay state data(or any other type of data) of the activities by applying custom CSS(cascading style sheets), as well as additional formatting of the blocksin the workflow, thus providing a real time monitoring view ofworkflows.

Advantageously, embodiments of the invention enable end users toidentify faulted jobs causing bottlenecks in a workflow for furtheraction, while managing and overseeing performance of the workflowsthrough various metrics to ensure that a target objective is achieved.Further, embodiments of the invention enable end users to review andimprove the quality of the workflows.

FIG. 5 shows a user interface 500 depicting a summary of job executiondata for jobs in an RPA system, in accordance with one or moreembodiments. User interface 500 may be caused to be displayed to an enduser at step 404 of method 400 of FIG. 4. The job execution data shownin user interface 500 may be filtered according to various filteringcriteria, including an environment criterion 502-A and a time framecriterion 502-B.

Health state view 504 depicts a state (e.g., running, pending, idle,successful, stopped, or faulted) of each job in the RPA system. Each jobmay be represented in health state view 504 by a respective square (orother shape, symbol, or representation), and each square may colored toindicate the state of the job. For example, green may indicate that thejob is successful, red may indicate that the job has faulted, orange mayindicate that the job is stopped, gray may indicate that the job isidle, and blue may indicate that the job is running. A user may interactwith health state view 504 by selecting a job (a square) to bring up adetail window 506 showing details of the selected job (e.g., the stateof the job).

Quantitative state view 508 shows the number of jobs that are in one ormore states. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, quantitative state view508 shows 32 jobs in a running state, 20 jobs in a pending state, and 12jobs in an idle state.

Finished jobs view 510 shows a total number of finished jobs and thestatus of the finished jobs (e.g., successfully completed, faulted, orstopped). Finished jobs view 510 is shown in FIG. 5 in the form of adoughnut chart, but may be in any suitable form. The statuses of thefinished jobs are proportionately shown in the doughnut portion of thedoughnut chart. The doughnut portions of the doughnut chart may becolored to indicate the reason that the jobs finished. For example,green may indicate that the job is successful, red may indicate that thejob has faulted, and orange may indicate that the job is stopped. Thecenter of the doughnut chart depicts the total number of finished jobs.

Error feed view 512 shows various errors of the jobs and a correspondingtime stamp.

Running jobs view 514 shows the number of running jobs for a timeperiod, e.g., the past 6 months. Running jobs view 514 is shown in theform of a histogram in FIG. 5, but may be in any suitable form.

FIG. 6 shows a user interface 600 depicting job execution data for jobsin an RPA system according to workflows (also referred to as processes)of the jobs, in accordance with one or more embodiments. User interface600 may be caused to be displayed to an end user at step 404 of method400 of FIG. 4. The job execution data shown in user interface 600 may befiltered according to various filtering criteria, including anenvironment criterion 602-A and a time frame criterion 602-B.

User interface 600 depicts a process table 604 showing various workflowsand metrics for each workflow. The metrics include the number of jobsrunning, pending, idle, successful, stopped, and faulted for eachworkflow, as well as the average job duration and average pending timefor each workflow.

FIG. 7 shows a user interface 700 depicting job execution data forcurrent jobs for a document processing workflow in an RPA system, inaccordance with one or more embodiments. User interface 700 may becaused to be displayed to an end user at step 404 of method 400 of FIG.4. The job execution data shown in user interface 700 may be filteredaccording to various filtering criteria, including an environmentcriterion 702-A and a time frame criterion 702-B.

User interface 700 depicts workflow view 704 and summary view 706 for adocument processing workflow (e.g., long running workflow). Summary view706 indicates the number of current jobs associated with the documentprocessing workflow at various states. As shown in FIG. 7, summary view706 indicates that there are 6 running jobs, 1 pending job, and 4 idlejobs associated with the document processing workflow. Workflow view 704depicts a visualization of the document processing workflow and numberscorresponding to activities of the document processing workflow thatindicate the number of jobs idle at that activity. FIG. 7 shows 1 jobidle at the extract invoice robot activity 710, 1 job idle at the claimapproval form user activity 712, and 2 jobs idle at the invoice approvalform user activity 714. An end user may interact with workflow view 704by clicking on an activity and/or a number to access detail window 708indicating the average waiting time for that activity. User interface700 allows an end user to identify bottlenecks in the documentprocessing workflow by identifying the activity that is causing jobs tobecome idle.

FIG. 8 shows a user interface 800 depicting job execution data for alljobs for a document processing workflow in an RPA system, in accordancewith one or more embodiments. User interface 800 may be caused to bedisplayed to an end user at step 404 of method 400 of FIG. 4. The jobexecution data shown in user interface 800 may be filtered according tovarious filtering criteria, including an environment criterion 802-A anda time frame criterion 802-B.

User interface 800 depicts workflow view 804 and summary view 806.Summary view 806 indicates the number of total jobs, the number of idlejobs, and the average job duration. As shown in FIG. 8, summary view 806indicates that there are 30 total jobs, 4 idle jobs, and an average jobduration of 1.10 hours. Workflow view 804 depicts a visualization of adocument processing workflow (e.g., long running workflow) with a numbercorresponding to each path of the document processing workflowindicating the number of jobs that have traversed that path in thedocument processing workflow. User interface 800 allows an end user tovisualize the paths taken by jobs in the document processing workflow.

FIG. 9 shows a user interface 900 depicting a table of job executiondata for all jobs for a document processing workflow in an RPA system,in accordance with one or more embodiments. User interface 900 may becaused to be displayed to an end user at step 404 of method 400 of FIG.4. The job execution data shown in user interface 900 may be filteredaccording to various filtering criteria, including an environmentcriterion 902-A and a time frame criterion 902-B.

User interface 900 depicts a tabular view 904 of all jobs executing thedocument processing workflow (e.g., long running workflow). As shown inFIG. 9, for each job, tabular view 904 identifies a robot or user name,a machine name (running the robot), the number of queue items processed,the queue that the job is in, the status (or state, e.g., running,pending, idle, successful, stopped, or faulted), the scheduled time ofexecution, the time that execution started, and the job duration.

FIG. 10 shows a user interface 1000 depicting job execution data for ajob (shown as Job 1 in FIG. 10) executing a document processing workflowin an RPA system, in accordance with one or more embodiments. Userinterface 1000 may be caused to be displayed to an end user at step 404of method 400 of FIG. 4.

User interface 1000 depicts workflow view 1002 and summary view 1004.Summary view 1004 indicates the number of pending jobs, running jobs,and idle jobs. As shown in FIG. 10, summary view 1004 indicates thatthere are 2 pending jobs, 1 running job, and 1 idle job. Workflow view1002 depicts a visualization of the document processing workflow (e.g.,long running workflow) of a particular job with status informationcorresponding to one or more activities of the workflow for Job 1.Workflow view 1002 may show workflows for other jobs via icons 1006. Forexample, a user may interact with icons 1006 to show workflows for aprevious job or a next job in workflow view 1002. As shown in FIG. 10,workflow view 1002 indicates that RobotName01_1 completed the classifyemail activity in 1 minute, RobotName01_2 completed the extract claimactivity in 3 minutes, and UserName01_1 assigned to activity claimapproval form and has been waiting (i.e., idle) for 2 hours. In oneexample, the waiting time for an activity (e.g., claim approval form) isshown if the triggering event (e.g., another job or activity) that theactivity is waiting for is already assigned to another user or robot toshow real-time resource bottlenecks. Accordingly, user interface 1000identifies the path of the workflow taken for Job 1, the current statusof Job 1, and the robot or user causing Job 1 to become idle.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a computing system 1100configured to execute the methods described in reference to FIG. 4,according to an embodiment of the present invention. In someembodiments, computing system 1100 may be one or more of the computingsystems depicted and/or described herein. Computing system 1100 includesa bus 1102 or other communication mechanism for communicatinginformation, and processor(s) 1104 coupled to bus 1102 for processinginformation. Processor(s) 1104 may be any type of general or specificpurpose processor, including a Central Processing Unit (CPU), anApplication Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field ProgrammableGate Array (FPGA), a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), multiple instancesthereof, and/or any combination thereof. Processor(s) 1104 may also havemultiple processing cores, and at least some of the cores may beconfigured to perform specific functions. Multi-parallel processing maybe used in some embodiments.

Computing system 1100 further includes a memory 1106 for storinginformation and instructions to be executed by processor(s) 1104. Memory1106 can be comprised of any combination of Random Access Memory (RAM),Read Only Memory (ROM), flash memory, cache, static storage such as amagnetic or optical disk, or any other types of non-transitorycomputer-readable media or combinations thereof. Non-transitorycomputer-readable media may be any available media that can be accessedby processor(s) 1104 and may include volatile media, non-volatile media,or both. The media may also be removable, non-removable, or both.

Additionally, computing system 1100 includes a communication device1108, such as a transceiver, to provide access to a communicationsnetwork via a wireless and/or wired connection according to anycurrently existing or future-implemented communications standard and/orprotocol.

Processor(s) 1104 are further coupled via bus 1102 to a display 1110that is suitable for displaying information to a user. Display 1110 mayalso be configured as a touch display and/or any suitable haptic I/Odevice.

A keyboard 1112 and a cursor control device 1114, such as a computermouse, a touchpad, etc., are further coupled to bus 1102 to enable auser to interface with computing system. However, in certainembodiments, a physical keyboard and mouse may not be present, and theuser may interact with the device solely through display 1110 and/or atouchpad (not shown). Any type and combination of input devices may beused as a matter of design choice. In certain embodiments, no physicalinput device and/or display is present. For instance, the user mayinteract with computing system 1100 remotely via another computingsystem in communication therewith, or computing system 1100 may operateautonomously.

Memory 1106 stores software modules that provide functionality whenexecuted by processor(s) 1104. The modules include an operating system1116 for computing system 1100 and one or more additional functionalmodules 1118 configured to perform all or part of the processesdescribed herein or derivatives thereof.

One skilled in the art will appreciate that a “system” could be embodiedas a server, an embedded computing system, a personal computer, aconsole, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a cell phone, a tabletcomputing device, a quantum computing system, or any other suitablecomputing device, or combination of devices without deviating from thescope of the invention. Presenting the above-described functions asbeing performed by a “system” is not intended to limit the scope of thepresent invention in any way, but is intended to provide one example ofthe many embodiments of the present invention. Indeed, methods, systems,and apparatuses disclosed herein may be implemented in localized anddistributed forms consistent with computing technology, including cloudcomputing systems.

It should be noted that some of the system features described in thisspecification have been presented as modules, in order to moreparticularly emphasize their implementation independence. For example, amodule may be implemented as a hardware circuit comprising custom verylarge scale integration (VLSI) circuits or gate arrays, off-the-shelfsemiconductors such as logic chips, transistors, or other discretecomponents. A module may also be implemented in programmable hardwaredevices such as field programmable gate arrays, programmable arraylogic, programmable logic devices, graphics processing units, or thelike. A module may also be at least partially implemented in softwarefor execution by various types of processors. An identified unit ofexecutable code may, for instance, include one or more physical orlogical blocks of computer instructions that may, for instance, beorganized as an object, procedure, or function. Nevertheless, theexecutables of an identified module need not be physically locatedtogether, but may include disparate instructions stored in differentlocations that, when joined logically together, comprise the module andachieve the stated purpose for the module. Further, modules may bestored on a computer-readable medium, which may be, for instance, a harddisk drive, flash device, RAM, tape, and/or any other suchnon-transitory computer-readable medium used to store data withoutdeviating from the scope of the invention. Indeed, a module ofexecutable code could be a single instruction, or many instructions, andmay even be distributed over several different code segments, amongdifferent programs, and across several memory devices. Similarly,operational data may be identified and illustrated herein withinmodules, and may be embodied in any suitable form and organized withinany suitable type of data structure. The operational data may becollected as a single data set, or may be distributed over differentlocations including over different storage devices, and may exist, atleast partially, merely as electronic signals on a system or network.

The foregoing merely illustrates the principles of the disclosure. Itwill thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able todevise various arrangements that, although not explicitly described orshown herein, embody the principles of the disclosure and are includedwithin its spirit and scope. Furthermore, all examples and conditionallanguage recited herein are principally intended to be only forpedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the principlesof the disclosure and the concepts contributed by the inventor tofurthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitationto such specifically recited examples and conditions. Moreover, allstatements herein reciting principles, aspects, and embodiments of thedisclosure, as well as specific examples thereof, are intended toencompass both structural and functional equivalents thereof.Additionally, it is intended that such equivalents include bothcurrently known equivalents as well as equivalents developed in thefuture.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method for monitoring a robotic process automation (RPA) system, comprising: determining job execution data for one or more jobs in the RPA system based on logs of the RPA system; and causing display, in a visualization of a workflow associated with the one or more jobs, of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more paths of the workflow and of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more activities of the workflow.
 2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein causing display, in a visualization of a workflow associated with the one or more jobs, of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more paths of the workflow and of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more activities of the workflow comprises: causing display of a number of idle jobs for an activity of the workflow.
 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein causing display, in a visualization of a workflow associated with the one or more jobs, of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more paths of the workflow and of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more activities of the workflow comprises: causing display of a number of jobs that have traversed one or more paths of the workflow.
 4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein causing display, in a visualization of a workflow associated with the one or more jobs, of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more paths of the workflow and of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more activities of the workflow comprises: causing display of a name of a robot assigned to perform an activity of the workflow.
 5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein causing display, in a visualization of a workflow associated with the one or more jobs, of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more paths of the workflow and of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more activities of the workflow comprises: causing display of a completion time of an activity of the workflow.
 6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein causing display, in a visualization of a workflow associated with the one or more jobs, of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more paths of the workflow and of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more activities of the workflow comprises: causing display of an idle time of an activity of the workflow.
 7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein causing display, in a visualization of a workflow associated with the one or more jobs, of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more paths of the workflow and of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more activities of the workflow comprises: causing display of a color for each respective job, the color for the respective job corresponding to a state of the respective job.
 8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein causing display, in a visualization of a workflow associated with the one or more jobs, of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more paths of the workflow and of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more activities of the workflow comprises: causing display of the job execution data for the one or more jobs in the RPA system in substantially real time.
 9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the determining and the causing are performed by one or more computing devices implemented in a cloud computing system.
 10. A system for monitoring a robotic process automation (RPA) system comprising: a memory storing computer instructions; and at least one processor configured to execute the computer instructions, the computer instructions configured to cause the at least one processor to perform operations of: determining job execution data for one or more jobs in the RPA system based on logs of the RPA system; and causing display, in a visualization of a workflow associated with the one or more jobs, of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more paths of the workflow and of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more activities of the workflow.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein causing display, in a visualization of a workflow associated with the one or more jobs, of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more paths of the workflow and of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more activities of the workflow comprises: causing display of a number of idle jobs for an activity of the workflow.
 12. The system of claim 10, wherein causing display, in a visualization of a workflow associated with the one or more jobs, of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more paths of the workflow and of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more activities of the workflow comprises: causing display of a number of jobs that have traversed one or more paths of the workflow.
 13. The system of claim 10, wherein causing display, in a visualization of a workflow associated with the one or more jobs, of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more paths of the workflow and of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more activities of the workflow comprises: causing display of a name of a robot assigned to perform an activity of the workflow.
 14. The system of claim 10, wherein causing display, in a visualization of a workflow associated with the one or more jobs, of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more paths of the workflow and of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more activities of the workflow comprises: causing display of a completion time of an activity of the workflow.
 15. The system of claim 10, wherein causing display, in a visualization of a workflow associated with the one or more jobs, of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more paths of the workflow and of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more activities of the workflow comprises: causing display of an idle time of an activity of the workflow.
 16. The system of claim 10, wherein causing display, in a visualization of a workflow associated with the one or more jobs, of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more paths of the workflow and of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more activities of the workflow comprises: causing display of a color for each respective job, the color for the respective job corresponding to a state of the respective job.
 17. The system of claim 10, wherein causing display, in a visualization of a workflow associated with the one or more jobs, of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more paths of the workflow and of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more activities of the workflow comprises: causing display of the job execution data for the one or more jobs in the RPA system in substantially real time.
 18. The system of claim 10, wherein the system is implemented in a cloud computing system.
 19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer program instructions for monitoring a robotic process automation (RPA) system, the computer program instructions when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising: determining job execution data for one or more jobs in the RPA system based on logs of the RPA system; and causing display, in a visualization of a workflow associated with the one or more jobs, of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more paths of the workflow and of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more activities of the workflow.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein causing display, in a visualization of a workflow associated with the one or more jobs, of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more paths of the workflow and of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more activities of the workflow comprises: causing display of a number of idle jobs for an activity of the workflow.
 21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein causing display, in a visualization of a workflow associated with the one or more jobs, of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more paths of the workflow and of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more activities of the workflow comprises: causing display of a number of jobs that have traversed one or more paths of the workflow.
 22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein causing display, in a visualization of a workflow associated with the one or more jobs, of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more paths of the workflow and of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more activities of the workflow comprises: causing display of a name of a robot assigned to perform an activity of the workflow.
 23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein causing display, in a visualization of a workflow associated with the one or more jobs, of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more paths of the workflow and of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more activities of the workflow comprises: causing display of a completion time of an activity of the workflow.
 24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein causing display, in a visualization of a workflow associated with the one or more jobs, of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more paths of the workflow and of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more activities of the workflow comprises: causing display of an idle time of an activity of the workflow.
 25. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein causing display, in a visualization of a workflow associated with the one or more jobs, of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more paths of the workflow and of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more activities of the workflow comprises: causing display of a color for each respective job, the color for the respective job corresponding to a state of the respective job.
 26. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein causing display, in a visualization of a workflow associated with the one or more jobs, of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more paths of the workflow and of the job execution data that corresponds to one or more activities of the workflow comprises: causing display of the job execution data for the one or more jobs in the RPA system in substantially real time.
 27. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the at least one processor is implemented in one or more computing devices and the one or more computing devices are implemented in a cloud computing system. 